Vaevictis_Music

Three new soundtrack mp3's have been added to the Audio page: Carthaginian Battle 2 1,2 mb / 1:14 min. Persian Battle 1 1,7 mb / 1:47 min. Persian Peace 1 2,1 mb / 2:06 min. Enjoy!

"(Hmm... shouldn't the title be Number_Of_Programmers++; ?)" Wow, my bad. This is why we need people like Nicolai. Welcome!

Please welcome the newest addition to the 0 A.D. Programming Department. Nicolai Hähnle (aka prefect) is an OGL Programmer from Germany, currently studying mathematics and computer science at university in Padeborn. He has 6 years' experience in C++ - more than 10 years' programming experience in total, deep understanding of OpenGL and 3D hardware in general, formal training in maths and CS, and experience working with teams over the internet, including "Return to the Shadows", a vertical scroller (http://www.rtts.org/) (virtually all programming), and "Widelands", a Settlers-like game, simulation and strategy (http://www.sf.net/projects/widelands) (most of the game logic, as well as some (software) rendering work). His background also includes writing an open-source driver for the ATI R3xx family of graphics chips and a number of high profile tutorials for the Half-Life 1 modding community (http://hlpp.thewavelength.net/tutorial.htm).

Hot on the heels of our new Sound Department comes the FPQA - the newly-formed First Party Quality Assurance Department. This department will be headed by Morgan Ramsay, who has a lot of professional field experience to speak of (NBA ShootOut 2006, Gretzky NHL 2006, SOCOM 3 for the PlayStation 2 (PS2), and The Con for the PlayStation Portable (PSP)). The 'press release' reads thus: "The Wildfire Games First Party Quality Assurance (FPQA) Department was formed in preparation for closed internal testing. The Department will be led by Captain Morgan. The initial focus of FPQA is the development of policies and procedures for effective testing, and the creation of a formal test plan. Upon completion of these tasks, the test plan will be implemented. Closed internal testing will ensure the title functions properly on minimum and recommended requirements system configurations. In the future, FPQA intends to procure testers from the community for localization, hardware compatibility and extended general testing."

Music will be divided between peace and battle tracks in-game. Although we won't use true dynamic music, the effect that you describe will still be there. Additionally, each of the 6 playable civs will have their own set of peace/battle music.

I'm afraid a couple of the team members are in a funny mood and have decided to be sarcastic with you. We try to teach them not to do that. It's an ugly teaching process, involving batons and electric shocks. You won't believe the things that take place in the Staff Lounge sometimes...

The establishment of a solid Sound Department is a clear sign that a project has grown to maturity. Why are we telling you this? Because 0 A.D. has recently formed a brand new team of 5 semi-professional sound designers to assist Carsten and Damian with the comprehensive task of 0 A.D.'s sound design. Damian has been promoted to Head of this department. In Damian's own words: ----- "The Sound Department has recently assembled a team of fine individuals to aid in the creation of sound effects assets, and propel the audio side of 0 A.D. swiftly forward. We are proud to introduce: Andy Bayless (bluesquadron) www.andybayless.com Andy is an accomplished independent musician/sound designer, and knows how to mess around proper with some sound. Ready to set the world on fire with his audio prowess Ivan Roland Beres (roland) www.battlerats.com Roland is a master of ambiance, soul musician extraordinary, and occasional animal tamer. He is active in the mod community, and has put mad hours into his sound library. Kit Challis (browncoat) www.browncoat.co.uk Kit is an established freelance audio/video producer, his passion for audio is equaled only by his passion for giant metal containers & security guards. Ryan Nicholl (rnicholl) www.blue-sounds.com Ryan is a bass guitar giant who plays and teaches bass to pay the bills. He is also a freelance audio lead for a company that develops soul sucking addictive slot machines...the perfect melding of twitch and adrenaline! Mike Stanton (dungeonsound615) www.dungeonsoundlab.com Mike comes to us with a passion for gaming and technical experience in live recording and sound mangling. His work with sourcing sounds and sound editing make him a perfect fit for the team. Carsten and I are excited to continue the work we have started establishing a feel for the sound aspects of the game with the new blood. Looking forward to greatness! Damian Kastbauer [ aka LostChocolateLab ] Wildfire Games Sound Effects Mind Bender

"Sometimes the historical record for certain troop types is extremely vague, leaving us in the uncomfortable position of literally designing the soldier. One example of this was the aforementioned Arabian camel cavalry..." A new developer article has been posted. Today, we visit 0 A.D.'s history department for a look at the synergy and conflict between two of 0 A.D.'s most important aspects: Historical accuracy and good gameplay. In his article, History Department Manager Paul Basar discusses how these two aspects sometimes go hand in hand, and how one must sometimes be prioritized over the other. The article can be found here.

You know, we have those too here in Denmark. But in the end, most of us don't have a clue about the major differences between Swedes and Norwegians (I even have difficulties telling the languages apart most of the time). I fully expect that Norwegians have the same impression of Swedes vs. Danes and likewise for Swedes' impression of Norwegians vs. Danes. I can't see why any Norwegian / Swede / Dane shouldn't be able to feel at home in any of the two other countries (well, apart from the darn cold!). We aren't so different, all in all.

The Norwegians have made a new move on their hidden agenda to take over WFG from the inside. They've sent us Dan Strandberg, our new tool programmer. Dan is in his mid-twenties with a full-time job, and experience in writing tools for games. He's recently done some contract tool programming for Gas Powered Games, and his most recent online project was working as content engineer / tool programmer for Elemental, a total-conversion mod for Dungeon Siege.

This new screenshot shows the Celts facing off against the Hellenes near a village. Check it out for a visual status report on how the 0 A.D. engine is coming along.

Our latest Dev Article is by the Chief himself; Jason Bishop, 0 A.D.'s Project Leader. In the article, he describes a typical day as team leader for 0 A.D. It gives an insight into what duties come with the title, and Jason shares some views on which skills are necessary for someone in the Project Leader role. Go to our Developer Articles section to find the new article. Also, in case you missed them the first time around, you'll find two older articles by Programming Manager Stuart Walpole on the same page.

Mark Strawson (Xentelian) and Dayle Flowers (Xienen) have joined the 0 A.D. programming team to help out with UI scripting and C++ programming, respectively. Mark hails from Canada, and is most well known for the enhancements he has made to the user interface and messaging system for Age of Mythology over the past year: (check out http://members.shaw.ca/markstrawson/ ). [ Read full bio ] Dayle is at time of writing studying Software Engineering at Southern Polytechnic State University, attempting to transfer to Georgia Tech and do Computer Science. [ Read full bio. ] Welcome Mark and Dale!

Wildfire Games' main website - http://www.wildfiregames.com - has taken on a new and more stylish look. Although it's not directly 0 A.D.-related, you may want to check it out. The main page also contains a link to WFG's other project, The Last Alliance, a fantasy RTS under development. The WFG main page will be the place to look for news about WFG as a company and community, whereas this site will still be the place for all things 0 A.D.

A friend of mine (Maggie, vocalist for 0 A.D.) is writing a report on Celtic influence on score music - games or film. Anyone know of any such music (apart from Braveheart or Last of the Mohicans)? Do the AOE games have any such music?

The History Department is happy to reveal another article by freelancer Cory McConnaughy aka Titus_Ultor. In this example Cory discusses the basics of Aristotlian beliefs and philosophy. Well written and highly informative, whether or not you know anything about ancient Greek philosophy or not. While you're are at it check out Cory's biography of the Iberian freedom fighter Viriato and the biographies of several ancient figures recently written by Joshua aka Shogun144, all of whom will be featured in the release of 0 AD.

Yes

I've cut it down in size now - hope it's enough for all the people with lower screen resolutions.

Some got it right away, some didn't - but just to be on the safe side: Yes, 1st of April is over, and no, we WON'T be merging the two projects to create a hybrid. To prove it, let me just emphasize that a new REAL screenshot was posted just before the 1st of April, but it probably got lost a bit during the whole April 1st thing. The screenshot features the Iberian civ. Make sure to go and see it here.

[img center]http://www.borishansen.dk/sauron7.jpg[/img center] As of today, it's offical. 0 A.D. has merged with its sister project, The Last Alliance. While the reasoning behind this is very complex, 0 A.D. Project Leader Jason Bishop summed it up nicely: "It just felt right." The two large teams will now form one huge team dedicated to making one single game, which mixes the historical realism of 0 A.D. with the Tolkien-esque fantasy of The Last Alliance. What will this mean for the game? First of all, it will allow you to play out extremely cool hypothetical scenarios, such as "how would the Hobbits have fared against the Roman empire", or "what if Hannibal had had access to oliphaunts instead of elephants?" Secondly, with one huge team working on the game's assets, production will speed up, but of course, a lot of the existing work needs to be redone, too. We've optimistically pushed the public beta back to early 2008. The name of this new game is still under discussion, but among the best name suggestions so far are: - "Mordor A.D." - "Rise of War: Total Sauron" - "Romans and Ringwraiths" - or simply "0 A.D.", but with a ring-shaped 0. Look for a poll where you can help decide the title, and check back soon for more news and screenshots. Also, a few more details can be found on the TLA Website.

Um.. yeah.. you're not the first to suggest that

It's a clear sign that 0 A.D. is evolving: We've just 'hired' our first sound designer! Welcome to Damian Kastbauer (aka LostChocolateLab), who will be responsible for creating and editing sound effects such as ambience, battle effects and voice recordings. Damian is skilled in audio sculpting, asset management, and implementation of specific details. He has a full-time job 40 hours a week, and works on video game sound effects 20 hours a week.

Now posted in the Biographies section of the History Archive is the story of the great Iberian hero Viriato, written by Cory McConnaughy aka Titus Ultor. He details the life of the humble shepherd who rose to challenge the encroaching might of Rome. A fine read! In addition Joshua (Shogun144) has been producing myriads of excellent biographies on the famous heroes appearing in 0 A.D. While taking a look at Cory's piece be sure to check out Joshua's work as well!

Simple enough. Once you've made the subtraction, you will always end up with a number which is a multiplication of 9 (9, 18, 27, etc.) The reason for this is that whatever number you choose, if you had chosen the number 1 higher, you would also end up subtracting 1 more - hence, the number from 20 to 29 all land you on 18, 30-39 land you at 27, etc. So in the table, they simply insert the same symbol on all of the possible end numbers. It randomizes which symbol is the 'magic' one, though, for that extra 'creepiness' factor.

The 0 A.D. team is looking for a sound designer to plan the implementation of audio effects in the game as well as create them. These are the qualifications that we're looking for in applicants: 1 - Samples of previous work in sound design. 2 - Previous experience in sound design. 3 - Previous experience in implementation of audio in games. While you will not be required to actually work with audio programming (we have a dedicated audio programmer for that), it will definitely be a benefit if you know the ins and outs of how audio works / should work in games. 4 - The ability to do sound recording. This is not a requirement, though. 5 - Teamwork abilities. 6 - Dedication and the will to 'see it through'. These are the tasks involved: 1 - Designing the audio for the game. The audio effects will, among other things, include natural ambience, battle effects, unit responses and interface sounds. 2 - For the ambience and effects, it goes without saying that we require custom-made, non-copyrighted audio tracks. However, you'll also play a major role in deciding the 'when's and 'where's of how audio will function in the game and in what amount. There's no drawn-up plan for all the needed sound effects at this point, so there's plenty of room for creativity from your side. 3 - As for the voice acting, we're slowly getting together a cast of voice actors from all over the internet. Therefore, you'll also be involved in the process of cleaning and optimising voice recordings, as well as generally having an overview over what we have and what we still need. Go to the application form page to apply if you're interested!